Mystery notes from Fleming and Guy Hamilton
alantong
Posts: 41MI6 Agent
I wonder if any of you might be able to shed some light on a Fleming / Bond related mystery?
A while ago I came across a package of letters at an auction written to a Mrs Sarah Caisley. They are dated from the 60s to 80s. Some of them refer to articles she had written for My Weekly magazine (which according to their web site is a "lively read for today's adventurous mature woman").
The reason I was interested in these is that one note is signed by Ian Fleming and another by Guy Hamilton. Unfortunately neither are dated. The Guy Hamilton message says "thank you for a very flattering article" and a note in pencil says director of James Bond films. The Ian Fleming one says "Get Well Soon" and a pencil note says "creator of 007".
Given the mention of an article I did wonder if Fleming and Hamilton jointly did an interview / contributed to an article. If so it would have to be dated 1964 (Goldfinger was Hamiltons first Bond film and started filming in Jan 64, it was released in Sept 64. Fleming died the month before).
As many of the other letters mention My Weekly magazine I have checked with the magazine but they have checked their archives and there is no article that mentions either Fleming or Hamilton during 1963 or 1964. It seems likely that the article mentioned was either for a different magazine or is from a different date (in which case the Fleming noe may not be connected with the Hamilton one).
I can not find any information about Sarah Caisley on the web so do not even know if she is still alive to ask. As many of the forum members here seem good at finding information about Fleming I wonder if anyone has any ideas or is aware of any published interviews with the two of them?
Thanks
Alan
A while ago I came across a package of letters at an auction written to a Mrs Sarah Caisley. They are dated from the 60s to 80s. Some of them refer to articles she had written for My Weekly magazine (which according to their web site is a "lively read for today's adventurous mature woman").
The reason I was interested in these is that one note is signed by Ian Fleming and another by Guy Hamilton. Unfortunately neither are dated. The Guy Hamilton message says "thank you for a very flattering article" and a note in pencil says director of James Bond films. The Ian Fleming one says "Get Well Soon" and a pencil note says "creator of 007".
Given the mention of an article I did wonder if Fleming and Hamilton jointly did an interview / contributed to an article. If so it would have to be dated 1964 (Goldfinger was Hamiltons first Bond film and started filming in Jan 64, it was released in Sept 64. Fleming died the month before).
As many of the other letters mention My Weekly magazine I have checked with the magazine but they have checked their archives and there is no article that mentions either Fleming or Hamilton during 1963 or 1964. It seems likely that the article mentioned was either for a different magazine or is from a different date (in which case the Fleming noe may not be connected with the Hamilton one).
I can not find any information about Sarah Caisley on the web so do not even know if she is still alive to ask. As many of the forum members here seem good at finding information about Fleming I wonder if anyone has any ideas or is aware of any published interviews with the two of them?
Thanks
Alan
Comments
The only thought that occurs to me is that I suspect the Fleming was signed in person. It is an irregular piece of paper and rather creased. Fleming didn't respond a great deal through the post, and when he did it was often in the form of short but polite letters. As the person seems to have sent a card to Guy Hamilton for his signature but the Fleming is not on one, I suspect the Fleming wasn't obtained through the post. Just a hunch and it doesn't help you with your research at all, but as Fleming was in the newspaper industry it wouldn't surprise me if he and Mrs Caisley met at an industry function.
Thanks for the above and also the email - due to a glitch or my mistake the email reply did not get through. Thanks for the ideas on how to contact Mrs Caisley - I will follow these up. Interestingly the Sarah Caisley you found also appeared in a TV episode of Jane Eyre opposite Timothy Dalton.
I dont think Mrs Caisley sent a card through the post to Guy Hamilton as the note is a thank you note from Guy Hamilton to her for writing "a very flattering article". The Fleming one is odd as it is on a scrap of paper suggesting as you say it was done in person rather than through the post, on the other hand it says "Get Well Soon" which is not the sort of thing you would write on a note to someone face to face.